Democrats Vs Federalists

The typical perception of Federalists and Jeffersonian-Republicans is one of absolute opposites: on the one hand, there are the Republicans, the champions of the common man; the Federalists, as the opposing party, are the suffocating faction. They were the party of strong government, this is certain, but this does not mean that they were advocating totalitarianism—nor did they seek to strangle the freedoms of Americans with stronger government, only model the new nation as they thought would be best; “stronger central government” was simply what they believed would be most suitable, just as Jeffersonians believed that a weaker central government would fit the States best. A common mistake made with Federalists and Republicans is viewing their

Federalists were seemingly more forward-thinking than most realize; the Jeffersonians had the tendency to think in the “now,” rising up in support of France. This kept with their beliefs, as they thought of republicanism’s future rather than solely their nation’s. For them, the United States’ future rested on the development and nurturing of republicanism; Federalists wished to keep their noses as far from the issues of other nations as possible, but made exceptions if the issue could affect America’s well-being at all. If they could improve America’s state, they would take the chance, even at the risk of public (and Republican) outrage. Either way, in order to examine the parties’ beliefs in foreign policy, we must first shatter the idea that the parties were complete opposites by moving through the parties’ history and then examining one of the most pivotal conflicts between them. The French Revolution questioned where party loyalties lied, and the dispute is often examined in black and white: did Federalists support England, like some sort of throwback to loyalists, or did they support France and

Hamilton, in the way he shaped the government, is considered rather shady, for lack of a better word; he took any methods to get what needed to be done, done. This was what typically led to the Jeffersonians’ attacks on him: not only were his actions, at times, difficult to justify, but they made him an easy target for the preying Jeffersonians. If we are to judge the parties solely by their figureheads, then we must take into account Jefferson himself, rather than basing our opinions of the Federalists on Hamilton’s ruthlessness and then taking an angle that makes the Jeffersonians Hamilton’s complete opposites. For all of Hamilton’s low points, it must be remembered that Jefferson was not so noble himself: the ideological differences between Federalists and Jeffersonians brought out the worst in the Founders. The fear of the “Hamiltonian juggernaut,” running a successful development of the nation’s government, was what triggered Jefferson’s increasingly vengeful moves against him and the Federalists. The success of the Gazette of the United States, a pro-Federalist newspaper, drove Jefferson to propose a rival newspaper that would play an “important” part in “a program of opposition to Hamilton”. Jefferson, along with other proponents of